Atelier Chen Haoru

Natural Construction in Rural Experiments

This project base is located in the western mountainous area from Hangzhou, which is a natural village with 140 peasant households. The main part of the building material is bamboo grows in its original site, and pebbles picked from the rivulet. The craftsman named Chen is the eldest son of the farmer in this area, other workers and materials chose are all local. During the design process, animal behavior was studied while rotational grazing and site were planned in the same time. This Pig barn is designed with special dormitory, feeding area, outdoor toilet, external field and swimming pool. Excavation is no longer needed on the field, a self-stable structure which seems like a big bird landed on the stone parapets, was completed by giant bamboo. Thatch picked in mountainous area nearby was first knitted by villagers under the commune’s call, and then hanged onto the roof of this bamboo structure by the workers.

The henhouse is built on the compacted flat ground between small agricultural reservoirs at the end of the valley and the north hilly area, the shallow foundation of which is formed by uniformly inserting tiny wood into the ground. With the use of bamboo, a platform is built on the wood foundation top, and on which placed two 8X8 bamboo unit structures in the formation of an open and sturdy structure. Quickly and easily built bamboo roof create stability for the whole construction. The interior is tall and roomy covered densely with bars, which allows the birds stay on it.

Since seasons changing through the year, thatch is impossible to harvest all the time, whereas bamboo can be found everywhere, thus people could switch to bamboo tile for roof building. Each bamboo is divided into two pieces for making this arc-shaped bamboo to natural tile, people just need to pierce the bamboo joints, and this half piece of bamboo becomes an ideal tile in a row. Each bamboo joint on those bamboo tiles are cleaned by craftsmen with hammers to make the front and back of bamboo tiles buckled together. In order to create smooth connection in between, the cleaning process therefore is quite exquisite. The roof of the whole structure is filled with more than two hundred bamboo, and with no chemical materials for water proofing.

The Pavilion was built on the reservoir dam with great view and good ventilation. The foundation of the Pavilion is the top of the dam. It is consolidated to set the base with six logs and connect to the plank covered above. With the bottom timber, five bays of bamboo structure form an independent and compact structure. The unit for one bay is 4x3 to build this pavilion suitable for people to live, and the function therefore is to be a resting place for farmers in work.

Sun commune series bamboo structure/2018 - Village Performance Center/2018

At the crossing of the road leading to town, the bamboo performing hall marks the village entrance with a pond of lotus and rice field. Inspired by the traditional village entrance, a new place of entrance is recreated. It composes of a open bamboo ceremonial structure and a few bamboo huts. Used for banquets, weddings, and villager gathering, the double roofed structure uses green bamboo as structure, and a thatch roof. Inside the hall, two rows of column “trees” supports its double layered roofs. The roofs are cross-braced using a web of triangulated frames with curved bamboo trunk, creating a cavernous volume of natural branches and fibers.

Sun commune series bamboo structure - Bamboo Bus Station / 2018

Two of the four huts along the main road are used as bus stops. A new bus route just opened for the commune in 2018. Scales are intimate, people waiting for buses can easily touch its bamboo-thatched roof, or sit on the bamboo trunk bench in the seasonal rainy days.